Golden Years
by Jocund Lilac
Summary: The real reason Aiber agreed to help out with the Yotsuba case. AiberxL. Rated T for violence, language and sex references. Shonen-ai.
1. Casual Casualty

_**I do not own Death Note or any of the characters from the series. They belong to Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Shueisha and Viz Media. The title of this fanfiction comes from a song written by David Jones (Bowie). All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Rate and review. AiberxL.**_

Thierry Morello always wore clothes that were 40 years or so out of fashion. One could easily think on first glance that he bought them all at thrift shops, but focusing on the immaculate cuts that only Paris' finest could sew, as well as a fit that could not be any more perfect, it became apparent that he was more than the odd-looking man in the calico suits.

Today, he turned up in an ensemble of a sky blue casual sports shirt that could have been lifted straight from Wimbledon '74, beige and brown checked flared trousers and black platforms. He was only monitoring the Yotsuba meetings anyway, no need to get dressed up for a lazy day at the NPA offices.

"Aiber, don't you think those clothes are a little... casual for an office environment?" Soichiro Yagami had taken note of his unusual fashion choice.

"Mr. Yagami, you know I don't believe in formality" Aiber sipped on some green tea. "And besides, look at L- I mean Ryuuzaki. He'd refuse a tuxedo at a dinner party!" Soichiro looked insulted, but instead went back to his business. He didn't like this foriegner, or his _girlfriend_, one bit.

"Oh, and Mr. Yagami" Aiber said. "I know you think Wedy's my girlfriend, but we're just, y'know, partners in crime. Literal crime"

Soichiro could not stand the foriegner. He wanted the Yotsuba case over so he could get him out of his sight. One time, he even slipped out a "...Kira have mercy" when walking away from him.

Aiber didn't consider himself foriegn to anyone. He was born in France, went to school in England, graduated from Harvard in the USA and was now in Japan. In this country, he thought trilingually. _Mon dieu_ he thought. _Monsieur Yagami-san doesn't suki dewa arimasen_. He tried to make friends with the chief, but to little avail. He'd drive him home in his 1972 Datsun, beautifully restored, but Yagami would always make him "turn down the goddamn music", and once threatened to throw his Elton John 8-track into the Sumida River. _In that case, it'd be goodbye _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Besides, there was a reason Aiber wanted to stay here.

L Lawliet, otherwise known as Rue Ryuuzaki, Ryuuzaki being the surname of his mother.


	2. Conformity

_**I do not own Death Note or any of the characters from the series. They belong to Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Shueisha and Viz Media. The title of this fanfiction comes from a song written by David Jones (Bowie). All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Rate and review. AiberxL.**_

The cancer was in remission. The transplant earlier in the year was a great success, but he couldn't bear to listen to the orders of the doctor. He loved fine wine.

He sipped it as L came into the room, wearing only a towel, and dragging Light on his chain.

"Any progress on the Yotsuba case?" L said, wringing his wet hair onto the floor.

"No, not really" Aiber poured himself another glass of Mont Blanc. "How does one go around infiltrating a multinational company? Ah yes, you mentioned Eraldo Coil earlier. The Eraldo Coil you defeated. The Eraldo Coil who's sitting here right now drinking some of the greatest wines his home country has to offer. Tell you what, L, with your blessing, I'll use my old identity to crash their party and expose Kira" L tried to reply, but Light was pulling on the chain and he had to leave, saying "sorry, Aiber-san. Light-kun wants me, I think"

While L and Light were back in the bathroom, Aiber began to read a magazine on the table. In it was an interview with the Japanese-born French designer Pierre Sada. The man who designed the suit that Aiber was wearing on that particular day- a bold leafy green three-piece striped with an early-summer lighter shade, or vice versa, seeing as the stripes were the same width. The frilled pink shirt with the massive collar had been bought from Iroi Brothers , and the platforms from Beaumont and Saxz of Paris. All these clothes were the product of the money he made as a conman, and the wealth was another reason he just couldn't quit being one. He had a house in the outskirts of Paris, sent his children to an expensive private school and would sometimes hire young Japanese twinks to jack him off for a good twenty thousand yen each.

The two young men returned.

"It's settled" L said with his free thumb in his mouth. "You will work under the pesudonym Eraldo Coil and give Yotsuba expensive offers to make yourself show your face. I guarantee you will not be killed by Kira... Thierry Morello. And please, try to dress normally when infiltrating Yotsuba. You stand out like a sore thumb in those clothes"

"Many people enjoy the comfort of old-styled clothing, L. I'm not the only one" Aiber poured even more wine.

"You have to accept that Yotsuba is a formal company. They wouldn't take anyone who wears... checked trousers, velvet jackets and platform boots among other things that I have seen. This means contemporary officewear."

How could this man humiliate his fashion sense when all he wore were jeans and a T-shirt, which were, quite frankly, beginning to _reek_. Aiber himself wore beautiful-smelling cologne-

"And please don't wear that cologne. I almost choked when you came into the office this morning"

That night was a trial run for Aiber's new fashion sense. He changed out of the purple velvet jacket and black silk trousers he had been wearing at Misa's party and into a duplicate of Matsuda's clothes, complete with awful wig. He was made to lay on the ground while Matsuda, acting as Misa's manager, faked his own death. Nobody saw who the "corpse" really was, but Aiber probably hated the feel of modern-styled clothing more than he did playing a dead person. As the doctors tried to resucitate a dummy version of Matsuda, he walked out of the hospital wearing the clothes that he insisted be packed into the ambulance for him to change into when he was switched with the lifeless model, the ones he had had on at the party. He came back into the apartment, making the halfassed excuse of having to babysit some kids, only to find everyone crying. He moaned a comical "ohhhh noooo!" upon being told of what had happened, and finally went back to his hotel room.

Aiber was the world's greatest conman, but as far as method acting went, he was in the village drama group.


	3. Foreigner

_**I do not own Death Note or any of the characters from the series. They belong to Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Shueisha and Viz Media. The title of this fanfiction comes from a song written by David Jones (Bowie). All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Rate and review. AiberxL.**_

"_Bordel_, I am never doing _cette_ _merde _ever again"

Aiber turned up the next morning in a red shirt-jacket with tartan trimming, an orange turtleneck and tan jeans and almost immediately he found himself having to break up L and Light, who were fighting again on the floor. He pulled Light away from L. Light, while struggling to remove himself from the Frenchman's grasp, lifted Aiber's turtleneck over his stomach to reveal a large scar.

"Aiber, what happened to your stomach?" the real Matsuda gasped.

Aiber pulled it down. "Nothing", he said. His scar was the last thing he wanted revealed to the taskforce. He wanted to kill the Yagami child. He had half an urge to strangle him with the chain that attached him to the brains behind the Kira case. He pulled a bottle of Chateau Morello out of his bag and drank it all in one sitting.

"RYUUZAKI-SAN! LIIIIGHT! FORIEGNER-SAN!"

Aiber really wished he hadn't finished that bottle off now that she had arrived. Misa Amane, idol, and contender for "Most Annoying Character Ever", had come to rehearse with him. She was going to be interviewed by Yotsuba, and Aiber, as Eraldo Coil, as John Wallace, a foreign consultant, was going to be on the panel.

"Okay, merd- I mean, Misa. I'm going to be John Wallace, and you're going to be a bitc- um, Misa. Okay? I'm John Wallace, a marketing advisor. Pleased to meet you" He offered his hand. Misa felt cold to his touch, but that was to be expected from someone who was lifeless. He laughed at his pun, and continued rehearsing.

The days went by and it became obvious that Kyosuke Higuchi was the Yotsuba Kira. The meeting went by with nary a hitch, save for Misa accidently slipping out a "foreigner-san" instead of "John Wallace" when addressing the "marketing advisor". Seeing as the "foreigner-san" was an injoke amongst the taskforce, nobody flinched when she said it. Not even the cool-as-a-cucumber cat who she was addressing. Misa made a recording where it was confirmed Higuchi was Kira. Aiber had to concede that she was smarter than she looked.

"She could be the next you" he laughed. He and Wedy were eating in a fine upmarket sushi restaurant one night.

"I don't know about that, Thierry" Wedy replied. "She may be smart, but she doesn't show it. She could never be a master criminal. All I see is a Japanese bimbo"

"Her love for the Yagami kid negates what could have been" Aiber took another swig from the bottle. "Nice and sweet, this one. And besides, she doesn't seem to be aware that the Yagami kid is what we call in France _un homosexuel_"

"Really?" Wedy choked on her Alaskan tuna nigiri, trying to surpress a laugh. "You think Light Yagami is gay?"

"Yes" he replied in a stern tone. "And my love rival. He's stolen Ryuuzaki's heart away from me. And it's a fact that Kiras don't end up in heaven". Aiber polished off the bottle of sweet Japanese wine, wiped his mouth and give the waiter a good 20,000 yen more than what the meal cost.

The waiter bowed and complimented the foreigner on his clothes- a bright green silk shirt accentuated by a navy blue velvet waistcoat and trouser set, topped off with a gigantic dark green bow tie. As the waiter turned, Aiber could have sworn he'd seen the composed Japanese man laugh.


	4. Livers and Liars

_**I do not own Death Note or any of the characters from the series. They belong to Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Shueisha and Viz Media. The title of this fanfiction comes from a song written by David Jones (Bowie). All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Rate and review. AiberxL.**_

Higuchi was dead.

That proved that the other Kiras were still active.

Aiber wore a shiny yellow jacket with gigantic glittered lapels, an Oriental-collared black silk shirt, tight-fitting black trousers and the usual platforms, today in gold.

"Just what the fuck are you wearing?" Soichiro said. "This is an office, not a... Bowie concert!" Aiber ignored him. Soichiro Yagami criticised every aspect of him, from his appearance to his insistence on using different wineglasses for each drink. He got one of the five glasses he'd stolen from a 100 yen store and poured the expensive red into it. He took one sip and felt pain. He hoped his new liver wasn't giving out on him. Besides, he now knew that Light Yagami was Kira, and he'd seen the scar and heard L mention his real name. Light now had that to write in the notebook, as well as a cause of death.

"Thousands of names... up to and including Higuchi" L flipped through the notebook. "Light-kun was the last person to touch the notebook, I believe. Therefore, I believe that Light-kun is Kira" L had told him the previous night.

"Exactly as I deduced, L" Aiber said. L wore what he always wore, and the smell was becoming unbearable. "L, I inist you try some of my cologne. It would really suit you" He handed L a bottle, but L gave it back to him. Wiping it on his jacket sleeve, he put it back in his pocket and dropped the bomb.

"L Lawliet, I love you"

L blushed a little. "Aiber-san" he replied. "I love you too. But I want to shake myself of Light-kun. I cannot possibly be in love with a killer. It's wrong"

"Then it's also wrong to be in love with a wouldbe killer" Aiber said. "Take off your shirt"

L looked bewildered.

"I said _enlève ta chemise_" The French-fluent L complied this time. The shirt came off to reveal a number of bullet scars, stretched tight with age and physique.

"Tsk tsk. If I'd have killed you, L, I'd probably have Light panting at my balls, chained to me like a fucking dog. I'd still be Eraldo Coil, the world's greatest detective, forever scared to touch a... _gun_" He literally had to force the name of the weapon out of his mouth, he hated it so much.

Light entered the room to find L and Aiber, both shirtless, sitting on the sofa fondling. "Typical" he spat at L. "You release me from the chains and then you go round like a cheap whore." "It's not what it looks like, Light-kun" L tried to explain. "Me and Aiber-san were changing for an undercover operation" Light took notice of the lack of clothing on the floor and tutted. "I always hated you, Ryuuzaki. If I was Kira, I would kill you here and now." L's face dropped, and he came close to showing sadness for the first time in his life. Instead, he got up and roundhouse kicked Light in the face. Yagami dropped to the floor and then got up again, holding half of his face. "Oh trust me, Ryuuzaki. If I was Kira, I would kill you" He walked out of the room, but passing the sofa, he punched Aiber hard in the thorax, causing the Frenchman to double over. L caught Aiber and chose to stay with him until he had confirmation that the conman was okay, which came in the form of a strained nod.

"Light-kun is not only Kira, but a great _goddamn_ liar too" This was probably the first time Aiber had ever heard L swear, but his anger towards Kira was justified. "He knows your _fucking_ liver has had issues over the years. The hepititis, the cancer, the transplant... I was called up to the investigation just as you'd had the transplant. I was barking orders to the UN from your hospital room. " Aiber laughed. "Dieu, I remember that. I was trying to sleep while you were up talking to people in Japan and America" Later that night, Aiber returned to his hotel room and felt another sharp pain in his abdomen. He collapsed to the floor and began sweating. Had Light targeted his liver for real? His cursing against God turned into barely audible moans as the world around him began to swirl as in a drunken haze. He swore he heard his own funeral dirge play in the distance. He did not know what was real. Finally he coughed out the words "_fuck Dieu_" as the haze whirlpooled into the darkness of illness.

_**AN: I feel this is rubbish and nothing but filler. Haven't had much time to write recently owing to coursework.**_


	5. Tower of Babel Collapsed

_**I do not own Death Note or any of the characters from the series. They belong to Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Shueisha and Viz Media. The title of this fanfiction comes from a song written by David Jones (Bowie). All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Rate and review. AiberxL.**_

_**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 25 OF THE ANIME/VOLUME 7 OF THE MANGA.**_

"L" Wedy rushed into the room. "Aiber was hospitalised last night"

"What happened?" L had only a degree of surprise in his voice; he knew it was likely that Aiber would be readmitted with all the social drinking he did, and besides, his emotions were never prominent.

"Liver again. They're doing tests right now. Chances are his cancer came back"

L sat still on his computer chair, teaspoon in hand, for a second, then spoke. "I would say that there is a 62% possibility that Aiber's cancer is back, and a further 41% chance that Kira caused this cancer. Therefore, there is at least a 19% chance that Aiber will die. However, not to sound morbid, Wedy-san, but there is also the same 19% chance that one of the taskforce is Kira, and I've narrowed it down to one suspect"

The rest of the taskforce came in, Light and his father leading.

"Yagami-kun, Yagami-san" L told the two Yagamis. "I am led to believe that Aiber is Kira"

Light and Soichiro gasped, the elder for real. _If there wasn't enough of a reason to hate the foriegner_, Soicihro thought. Wedy tried to tell them what L had really said, but was cut off. "We do not want to scare the taskforce, Wedy-san." It was November 5th, 2004, 7:51am.

"Regarding Aiber, Wedy-san tells me that he was taken to hospital last night with liver complications. Therefore, he will not have access to the notebook for a few days. We will see if the killings continue during his hospitalisation. If not, I only have one other suspect who I will name." L had cleared Aiber's name more than once, and now it was time to tarnish it. He knew Light was Kira, but he couldn't tell him that face to face, could he?

Aiber sat in his hospital bed, looking out of the window, witnessing the neon Tokyo night. Wedy was by his side,and his wife and children were flying over from Paris to see him. The cancer was back. _Oh great_, he thought._ More scans, tests and chemicals pumped into my veins_. Just below was the main road leading to the hospital. He'd look down when he heard the siren to see what characters were being carried in. He'd only been in a day and he'd seen a man burned to his bones, a cyclist with a wooden pole in his leg and a schoolgirl with her stomach slashed open. Another siren grew louder as it pulled in. Who was coming in next, he wondered. He saw black, tufty hair, a bare, scarred chest ridden by a medic in an attempt to save his life-

L.

Aiber leapt out of his bed, dragging his drip pole behind him. Putting on his black-watch tartan jacket, he ran down to the emergency room.

"Mr. Yagami!" He caught a glimpse of Soichiro. He rushed into the small room where the doctors were working on L.

"Mr. Yagami! L- uh, Ryuuzaki! How is he?"

Soichiro looked confused at Aiber's sudden appearance. "Not good..." he muttered with venom. The doctor took the defibs off of L's chest and looked at his watch.

"Time of death, 10:23pm"

Aiber let out a howling, pained cry as a nurse put a blanket over the dead body.

"He can't be dead yet! He probably still has brain signals!" he yelled, tears spilling out of his eyes. He threw the nurse's hand away from the sheet and lifted it up. "Look, REM! His eyes are moving! He's alive! Let him live! Please! _Il est ma raison de vivre_! L! _S'il vous plaît être vivant_!" The doctor motioned Aiber away from the body of the man who was once the world's greatest detective.


End file.
